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DMSP Special Sensor for Ion and Electron Scintillation (SSIES)

The SSIES is an improved version of the Special Sensor for Ions and Electrons (SSIE). The SSIE instruments measured the ambient electron density and temperatures, the ambient ion density, and the average ion temperature and molecular weight at the DMSP orbital altitude.

Data Access

To order SSIES data, email ncei.info@noaa.gov.

Data by Satellite

Instrument Description

The instrument consists of an electron sensor (Langmuir probe) and an ion sensor mounted on a 2.5 meter boom. The ion sensor is a planar aperture, planar collector sensor oriented to face the spacecraft velocity vector at all times. In addition to the Langmuir probe and planar collector which make up the SSIE, the SSIES has a plasma drift meter and a scintillation meter. An upgraded version of the SSIES (SSIES-2) is planned for flight on vehicles through S-20.